Skeletons
by coveryoureyes
Summary: The Skeleton Clan had maintained truces with nearly every other clan, but the people from the sky had been a complication impossible to predict. Arachne knew she shouldn't get involved... but the teenagers clearly needed help if they wanted to survive. Eventual Clarke/OC
1. Chapter 1

The sounds were unlike anything she had ever heard. Arachne had been so completely focused on the repairs she was sewing into her torn backpack that she didn't even look up until it became nearly-deafening.

What the – what the _hell_ was that thing? She had read about 'satellites' when she was younger - and sure, she'd only understood a third of the textbook seeing as it was written in English – but she knew that people had launched them into the sky centuries ago. Maybe one was failing?

To her immense concern, it didn't seem to be slowing down as it plummeted to the ground. At the last second however, a type of fabric burst from it. As it crashed against the ground Arachne came close to losing it.

From the basic calculations she could make based on its trajectory, that stupid, _stupid_ thing had just likely landed on top of her secondary nest, where she had been storing all of her food for the winter. A small shriek of rage escaped Arachne – after all, _just_ last week she had picked the nearby trees empty to gather all of her favorite nuts and pack them away. And Gladia's favorite choices of dried meat were in there. Her pet would be an absolute _nuisance_ until she could replace those.

With a feeling of anger still clouding her judgement, she pulled her mask down over her face and attached her grappling hook to the nearest connector cable of the web she was in before she began moving towards the crash site.

Arachne's secondary nest was a thing of beauty, seeing as her position amongst the tribe was incredibly respected. And with her brother as one of the head architects amongst her people, she had been built a home nearly forty feet up in the trees, camouflaged well and with nine cables in her personal web that she used to travel from tree to tree around the immediate area when she wasn't in the mood for manually grappling.

Another thought struck her as she traveled quickly towards the disaster site – Trikru would be incredibly angry by this fallen satellite. She only hoped that the Anya wouldn't take it out on Arachne's clan. The Familia Osseorum – the Skeleton Clan – had been on very good terms with the other clans and Trikru in particular, mostly because the healers of the Skeleton Clan had been able to save Commander Lexa's lover two years ago when their own healers could not.

A pity the girl was killed later anyway - she'd been sweet for a member of the Trikru.

For now, Arachne was simply trying to prepare herself for the damage the piece of metal had most likely done to her nest. Hopefully some of it was salvageable. Of course if it was destroyed she wouldn't starve, nothing that drastic. But her older twin siblings Minerva and Mercury would be _insufferable_ if they had to provide for her this winter. She was twenty-one years of age, an adult. Some of the oldest people in her tribe were already wary that someone only barely past two decades had risen the ranks to become their head priestess. Being babied by her siblings would be humiliating not only personally but due to her position as well.

It only took a few minutes for her to find the clearing where the crash had taken place, but when she did she was entirely taken off guard.

There were children dancing about this enormous satellite and Arachne noted that it wasn't actually a satellite at all, it was some sort of transportation. There were – there were people in the _sky_ still? But she'd thought… she'd been _taught_ that anyone who had theoretically gone up to the sky before the earth was ravaged would have been dead by now. Had their been some sort of family in the sky the entire last century?

The children were causing an enormous amount of noise. It was a wonder that no Trikru scouts or warriors were here yet. Arachne immediately searched the trees surrounding the clearing that had been created by the metal monstrosity and saw no other people from her clan wearing their skull masks in the trees, so she figured it was safe to get closer without risking a talking to from her protective older siblings.

Once Arachne was perched in a tree close enough to differentiate the kids – a tree that had once been a valuable part of the zip line route that took her to her _now destroyed nest_ – she could make out some of what they were saying. Although she'd known it was the most likely possibility, it was still annoying that they were speaking what sounded like English.

Damn. Arachne _really_ wished she'd paid more attention to her English lessons. Her clan's language – Oldspeak – was a crude and somewhat nonsensical combination of Latin and English, so she could figure out _approximately_ what they were saying, but the exact meanings were lost to her.

Her English vocabulary lessons as a child didn't seem to be coming back to her. The fact that her older brother's lectures about her slacking off in lessons were proving to be true was equally irritating. Mercury was smug enough as it was.

These children seemed to be posturing already and Arachne nearly let out a snort of derision. These Caeli Genus – People of the Sky – were about to have _many_ more problems than inter-clan squabbling, and unless they had some sort of plan, the Trikru would destroy them for this apparent invasion.

There was a large number of people in the clearing, and Arachne changed her mental description of the people from 'children' to 'teenagers'. And none of them looked suited for battle or even survival. Dear gods.

However, it was fascinating to watch the reactions of these teenagers. A number of them were dancing about with glee while others were looking around with wonder.

Arachne's attention was drawn to a group of individuals standing near the metal monstrosity and saw to her amusement that there was _already_ a fight breaking out. The Skeleton Clan wasn't at all violent – remaining neutral in regard to every other clan by providing medical support and information to any that needed help and in turn having a solid treaty and permission to nest in almost all of the territories – so Arachne could admit to herself that seeing the teenagers already coming to blows was entertaining.

What followed, however, was less entertaining.

Arachne saw on the periphery of the clearing that the ship's impact had made that a small group was gathering. They were fairly conspicuous amongst the others, what with their shouting and angry body language. When the small group that had been formed set off into the woods, Arachne was taken aback.

They were walking directly towards Mount Weather, which housed people who conducted _human experimentation_ and who used _air toxins_. Were they – what the hell was going through their minds? Did they have some sort of agreement with the Mountain Men? If so, they had to be eliminated immediately.

They'd be meandering right through Trikru territory. Though it was macabre, Arachne was already mentally guessing how many of the teenagers going on their little expedition would be killed.

Two or three seemed like a reasonable bet.

Arachne felt a strange pang of pity for the group below her. They were just so – _interesting_. They were foreign and _new_. Exactly the sort of thing that Arachne loved to watch and examine until she understood it. But already she knew that it would be a bad idea to become too involved with the group. If any Skeletons found out she was even this close she wouldn't hear the end of it.

By the end of the month they'd likely be dead, whether due to Trikru's execution of them for invading – even if from what she could tell it did seem to be unintentional – or their own inability to survive on Earth.

Still, it couldn't hurt to just look at them, right? Besides, she'd have to explore their impact site in the hopes that she could salvage some of her belongings. Arachne might as well observe the teenagers before venturing into their camp.

* * *

As the day went on time passed languidly, as it always did when Arachne didn't have assigned work to complete, and it was strangely soothing to watch the teenagers dance about and marvel at the land. The forest was beautiful, and she knew her clan had only begun building in these parts forty or so years ago – taking it for granted wasn't in her nature.

Eventually feeling secure enough in her knowledge that the children had no idea she was present, Arachne began using the cable system to travel from tree to tree as she had been taught since she was old enough to walk. When she saw the teenagers getting rowdy once more as the sun fell below the horizon, Arachne let out an annoyed breath and left to travel back to her primary nest, far away from the Caeli Genus so she could hopefully get some sound sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Arachne was completely still as the teenagers ran just beneath her post. It was a small platform that her people rested on in between grappling. This particular post had an easy web and was one of her favorites - if she came to it at the right time she could watch the sunset.

She hadn't been near the teenagers since their initial impact that destroyed her nest. For the time being Arachne had decided to keep a bit of distance, but it seemed as though it wasn't meant to be.

Right now, she was much more concerned with the children that were fleeing the acid fog she could just barely make out in the distance. When Gladia had begun flying off Arachne had immediately known that the Mountain Men had released their poison. At the sound of the horn, Arachne had immediately pulled out her tarp, one of the few things her people always carried in their bags for cases just like these. Hers was one of the larger ones and could easily cover her entire body, but she had yet to cover her head, warily watching as the unprepared people of the sky sprinted without a definite location in mind. She could – _damn it_ \- she couldn't truly do anything for them, and if she tried to point them in the direction of the caves they'd likely be too distracted by her appearance to follow her directions.

Arachne nearly resigned herself to simply protecting her own body, when the boy tripped and fell. The dark haired teenager let out a shout that she guessed was the name of one of his fleeing people, but the others didn't stop.

She was going to regret this. But the fallen teenager was _right below her_. Arachne wasn't heartless, and if the boy _did_ die it would be her duty to give him an outsider's blessing and construct his grave, something she quite frankly didn't want to spend time doing when she'd likely be seen by one of the Sky People.

With only a few seconds to spare, Arachne dropped down without grappling, landing wrong on her left ankle, almost certainly lightly spraining it – _gods, that hurt_ – and threw the tarp over herself and the boy. Thankfully, he seemed to understand what to do and scrambled to pull it around himself, blocking out the air that had become fatal.

Arachne hissed as the fog touched her forearm while she held down her own half of the tarp and heard the boy let out a similar pained sound. However, seeing as they weren't dying, Arachne figured she was safe in her assumption that he had managed to tuck his own side of the tarp around them. It wasn't too cramped, thankfully. Arachne could comfortably sit up with her legs outstretched in front of her and still not touch the boy, who was also sitting. She'd have to find a position that didn't make her ankle throb.

When their scrambling had finally stopped, she turned toward the teenager.

Oh. He looked incredibly panicked. Arachne supposed that she should have expected such a reaction.

The silence lasted for nearly a full minute, and Arachne let the boy stare at her and look her over. The tarp didn't entirely block out light – though ironically it tinted the world within it yellow – so she allowed herself to assess him with equal focus.

* * *

Atom was, well, much less composed than he would have liked. But right now he couldn't even attempt bravado as he faced the grounder next to him. The skull mask was freaking him out, and the person seemed to realize that, letting out what sounded like an exasperated sigh before taking it off.

The woman, he now realized, ran her gloved hand roughly through her hair, pushing back the brown strands that had been sticking to her face as she muttered out an unrecognizable word. The tone of voice, however, made it pretty clear that she was probably swearing.

She looked –like an average person, a few years older than him and closer to Bellamy's age. Atom had sort of categorized the grounders in his mind as murderers after what had happened to Jasper, and it was weird to see that the person beside him was normal-looking. It was even more off-putting that she had saved him. There had to be some sort of ulterior motive going on – but Atom also knew that without her interference he'd either be _really_ hurt or dead.

"Thank you."

The woman didn't answer, instead pulling the pack she'd been carrying on her back off and into her lap before opening it and rooting around for something.

"How long will this last?"

The suspicions that Atom had regarding the grounders' language were proven true when she looked up from her bag and raised her eyebrows, looking a little bit annoyed before she responded.

"Non scio all English verbae."

Atom stared at her. This would be more complicated than he'd thought. But seeing as he was in the position to speak to a grounder that evidently wasn't trying to kill him, he knew he should try to figure out as much as he could about her to report back to Bellamy.

"My name is Atom."

He supplemented his words by motioning to his chest, and the grounder clearly understood what he was saying when she froze, her eyes narrowing. After a few moments of evidently assessing him, she once more sighed before responding, "Meus name est Arachne."

"Arachne?"

The woman – Arachne – nodded, and looked down to pull a small jar out of her bag, holding it up to the light and seemingly trying to measure what was inside of it.

"Why did you help me?"

Arachne's face twisted, and she mouthed the word "help" under her breath before Atom realized he should try to phrase it a different way to see if she could understand.

"You saved me."

He tried to make his voice questioning, and the woman seemed to recognize the sentence when she responded, "Non want te sub terra."

And… okay. That wasn't exactly helpful. He knew his face had to be giving away his confusion, but Arachne evidently didn't care, instead opening the jar she'd found and pulling a glove off with her teeth to dip into the pot before slathering her burnt arm with the cream. She let out a sigh of relief before turning her head to look at him. After a second, she repeated the words, "Sub terra" and dug shallowly with her other hand before pointing to him and then the small hole she'd created in the dirt.

"Oh. Dead."

Arachne looked at him speculatively, so Atom drew a finger across his neck. His motion sparked a laugh out of the woman before she silenced herself, still looking amused. Nodding, she responded, "Ita. _Dead_."

Before Atom could respond, his stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. Without pause, Arachne reached again into her pack and pulled out a bag that she passed to him. Opening it up, he saw what looked like berries. Of course, he turned to stare at her with suspicion.

Snatching back the bag, she glared at him before exaggeratedly pouring a few into her palm and throwing them into her mouth, offering him back the bag with a scornful look. When he watched her closely for signs that something was wrong with the food, she snorted and said, "Es stultissimus."

Atom was pretty sure she was making fun of him. However, a minute later he figured that the food she'd offered wasn't poisonous, so he began eating the berries. Arachne had leaned back against the tree they were just next to and closed her eyes, seeing entirely at ease. It was a little insulting, actually, that she clearly didn't see him as any kind of a threat.

Without opening her eyes or looking at him, she muttered, "Here usque dawn. Circiter sedecim hours."

Atom nodded to show her that he understood that apparently he and the grounder would be in a tight space together until the morning. Something about her speech was vaguely familiar. Atom was pretty well versed in Spanish, and some of what she said was… _almost_ similar.

However, before he could think further on the subject, Arachne opened her eyes and turned to look at him before wordlessly offering him the jar of burn cream. The burns on his arm and hand hurt pretty badly, so Atom didn't hesitate before using it himself.

An hour passed without either of them speaking, Arachne occasionally humming listlessly to herself. Atom had no idea what he could even say. Arachne was clearly not in the mood to talk, and half an hour before she'd kicked off one of her bulky combat boots and pulled a strip of cloth out of her bag, carefully wrapping and rewrapping her ankle that he had now realized was swollen and an angry-looking red.

When it started getting dark, Atom was pulled out of his thoughts when a large crack sounded out. Whipping his head to face her, he was shocked when he saw that Arachne had grabbed and was now using a glow-stick, one that was large enough to look military grade. He opened his mouth, finally feeling like he had something he could start a conversation about when suddenly Arachne threw something at him that bounced off his chest. Holding it up near the light he saw that it was –

"A Rubix cube? What – why – "

Arachne shrugged and said, "Game, Atom Caeli Genorum. This est longinquus."

Without saying anything else, she began reading from what looked like a small dictionary or some other textbook, trailing her fingers back and forth across the pages with a frustrated expression on her face as she mouthed a few words silently. Leaning over, he was able to make out what it was.

"That's English to Latin. You're speaking _Latin_?"

Arachne closed the book carefully, patting its cover absentmindedly before she held up both of her hands.

"Speaking _Oldspeak_."

Shaking one of her hands, she said, "English." Gesturing to the other hand, she said in the same flat tone, "Latina lingua." Smacking her palms together, she then said in an informative voice, as if speaking to a child, "Oldspeak. Meus lingua."

Incredibly annoyed at her patronizing tone, Atom decided that it wasn't worth talking to her. After a few infuriating hours of messing around with the Rubix cube, Atom drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Arachne was amused to see Atom jerk away violently from her when he awoke to her hands on his face. A burst of laughter left her unbidden as he scrambled away from her. _Really_? What did the boy think she was going to do? Keep him alive at her own expense for the entire night then kill him in the morning?

No matter. The ceremonial paint she'd applied to his face marked him as someone who had escaped death because of a member of the Skeletons, and he wouldn't be targeted by the Trikru for as long as he kept it on and didn't cause trouble.

Of course, with the outrageous protocol the People of the Sky seemed to follow, she was sure it would be gone as soon as he knew it was there. Figuring out the words to explain the significance of the marks would take too long, and pandering to the teenage boy's language was irritating to say the least. Why wasn't _he_ learned _her_ language?

Peering out from beneath the corner of her tarp, Arachne noted that the acidic cloud from the Mountain Men had finally dissipated. Quickly considering her options, Arachne realized that gathering up the tarp would likely take longer than she wanted. The shouting of the teenager's name in the distance solidified her decision to abandon the tarp, as much extra work as it would be to travel to one of her distant nests to grab one of her spares.

Arachne glanced down and saw that the nearly-solved Rubix cube remained in Atom's lap, but she saw no harm in letting the boy keep it. So without pause, Arachne winked at him before saying in a glib voice, " _Farewell, Star Boy_."

Running away as the voices came nearer, Arachne had just enough time to grapple up into a nearby web of cables and camouflage herself before Atom's people arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

" _Homicida_! Es brother killer! _Leave!_ "

The child let out a startled scream after spotting Arachne in the trees above her before standing and scrambling away. Arachne felt absolutely no pity for the girl. She had – she had _murdered_ one of the members of her family! Arachne hadn't been able to make it in time to stop what she had realized too late was happening. When she had seen the boy they called Wells digging graves for the dead she had decided to watch him. Arachne wasn't sure if they had similar positions as the Skeleton Family did and if that made him a death priest in the same way she was a priestess of death.

The lack of respect the other teenagers showed him had made it clear that it was unlikely. If any member of her tribe dared show her the same disrespect this boy had faced they would be penalized harshly.

This meant that Wells was doing this of his own accord. Respecting the dead and laying them to rest was a sacred act, and Arachne found his actions incredibly noteworthy.

When the girl had approached him, Arachne had seen no reason for alarm. It was only when she slipped the knife into the boy's neck that she had realized underestimating the girl was a fatal mistake, and Wells had been the one to pay the price.

Arachne could care less that the child might be informing other Sky People that she was here. It was more likely she would not, actually, seeing as her information would lead them to realizing that she had murdered the other teenager.

With grief weighing her down heavily, Arachne lowered herself down from where she had been perching in the trees. Walking gingerly on her wrapped ankle, she dropped to her knees when she reached the teenager's body.

Arranging him into the pose she used when laying her own people to rest, she once more fought off her despair. This was a barbaric occasion. To kill one of your own _brothers_ – it was incomprehensible. Even the Trikru and the vicious Ice Clan only killed one another when a grave offense had taken place.

Arachne thankfully had restocked her paints just a day ago when she had returned to her primary nest. She carefully pulled out the ceremonial paints and took great care when drawing the intricate signs of the dead over his face and down his arms that were now crossed over his chest.

Arachne hesitated for another second. It wasn't _exactly_ one of the customs of her people, but – Arachne had always enjoyed the old myths of the Greeks and Romans and their practice of placing a coin in the mouth of the deceased to ensure that the boatman of the dead would row them to the Underworld. It was merely that – a story, one she knew was false. But if anyone deserved the extra bit of luck, it was this Sky Boy who had been killed for doing nothing more than respecting his own dead.

Fishing through her pockets, Arachne found one of the spare coins that she kept on her person due to habit. It was a piece of currency that the Americans had once used. With one last sad look at the boy, Arachne carefully placed the coin over his lips, leaning down and brushing a light kiss to the boy's forehead.

"Requiesce in pace, Wells Caeli Genorum."

* * *

Minerva was fairly relaxed, sitting cross-legged on her bed as she ground seeds that would be needed for a numbing poultice she'd recently run out of. When her younger sister's crow flew into her nest, she immediately set aside her project, letting out a resigned sigh at the knowledge that Arachne would show up soon.

Her prediction was proven true when only minutes later when the sound of Arachne zip lining onto the edge of her nest rang out. Without bothering to consult with her sister, Minerva leaned out of the window closest to her bed that faced Mercury's adjacent nest and shouted, " _Our little sister has probably done something foolish!_ "

Arachne's offended expression caused Minerva to snort with amusement, a sentiment her twin quickly repeated as he also climbed into the room with a feral grin on his face. When he spoke up his tone was nothing short of mocking.

" _Haven't seen you in days, baby sister. Too bad about the space ship destroying your nest._ _It was one of my better creations._ "

Arachne sat beside Minerva on the bed, but her expression turned uncharacteristically serious when she responded to Mercury's taunts.

" _The Sky People are causing major disruptions. One of the younger girls in their tribe murdered one of the older boys when he was digging graves for their dead._ _I gave his body a Skeleton blessing._ "

Minerva tensed and saw her brother do the same from the corner of her vision. She and her twin had always been both startling similar and exceedingly different. Minerva knew she was far more serious than Mercury and she barely spoke compared to his constant quips, but when they were both in the same mood they became very nearly the same person. Right now she knew that they had the same train of thought.

For Arachne to have given a teenager who wasn't a Skeleton their traditional funerary blessing – it meant she had been extremely bothered. Seeing as her younger sister was incurably curious and had a tendency to disregard common sense when she wanted to learn more about something – well. It meant that they had a situation on their hands. Mercury voiced her thoughts a second later.

" _Stay away from them. They've done nothing but send everyone into a panic since they crashed here._ _Don't get any more involved than you already made yourself_."

Arachne's guilty look let Minerva know that her sister had likely done even more with the teenage invaders than she'd told the two of them. Damn it. And of course Arachne grew defensive in response.

 _"_ _It isn't my fault. They landed in the middle of where I live!_ "

Mercury's voice was incredibly sharp and much more harsh than usual when he cut her off and said, " _Then move."_

Arachne's stubborn streak reared its head and she childishly pouted before muttering, " _They need help. That's what our people_ do _. We help the other clans._ "

Minerva finally cut in, carefully choosing her words in an attempt to make her sister see reason, " _They're already at war with Trikru, and we have no truce with the Sky People. We need to remain neutral, as the Skeleton Family has always done._ _In this case, it means we cannot interfere with what the Trikru have planned._ "

Arachne's face went blank when she responded in a flat voice, " _Okay_."

Minerva glanced at Mercury and the two shared a worried look. There was very little chance that their sister had given in so easily. They'd have to keep an eye on Arachne before she did something too foolish to take back.

* * *

Arachne had been more distant from the Caeli Genus than she would have liked since speaking to her siblings. It was mere coincidence that when she traveled back to the clearing that the teenagers inhabited to try to finally investigate the wreckage of her nest that a massive commotion was taking place.

When she investigated what was happening, horror overtook her. The actions of this group – Gods, they were feral. What sort of twisted society must exist in space for these children to be so vicious?

The group was attacking a single member of their group, trussing him up like a _meal_ and –

 _They were stringing a noose around his neck_. These insolent teenagers – they _dared_ to kill someone in the trees? The sacred spaces of the Skeleton Family? Her family had no truce with these children, unlike the Trikru there was no agreement that they could kill amongst the trees of the forest during war time.

Grappling around closer to the action was incredibly difficult. Remaining on the periphery of the group was of utmost importance if she was to reach the soon-to-be-killed boy in time. However, because her nearby nest had been destroyed, taking the majority of the cable web down with it, she was reduced to manually grappling, something extremely time consuming and physically difficult, especially with the darkening sky.

Arachne realized what was going on only when the murderous girl stepped forward, shouting at the group. A word she screamed was easily recognizable. " _Killed_."

The boy who now dangled in the air was being blamed for the girl's acts. Without any thought to her own safety and secrecy, Arachne abandoned her place in the shadows, quickly making her way to the branch where the noose was placed. With an angry snarl, Arachne gripped her largest knife tightly and sawed through the rope, sending the young man sprawling to the forest floor.

Everyone in the clearing was staring at her. Their panicked screaming was irritating, and Arachne wished they would focus on the homicidal child who had been willing to allow another to die in her place instead. All she had done was save the falsely accused boy, nothing outstanding.

However, when the wordless shouts quickly turned to angry exclamations of 'grounder', Arachne knew she had to move quickly.

But – _damn it_ , she didn't know what to do. She was stranded on this tree with no cables nearby. Her grappling would be slow enough that any member of the Sky People would be able to follow her movements, and Arachne wasn't going to lead them straight to her home or the homes of her people. With a defeated, resigned sigh, Arachne simply scaled the tree, reaching its highest point before settling down into a fork in the branches, making herself comfortable as she tried to decide what she was going to do to get out of this.


	4. Chapter 4

Atom had felt really, really conflicted when he joined Bellamy in trying to hide Charlotte from Murphy. Because realistically – Murphy had gotten fucked over. Bellamy had almost killed him, and if it had happened to Atom he didn't know if he could just forgive Bellamy right away.

Shit, Charlotte was a kid. And Wells hadn't been someone he was fond of, but still. The guy didn't deserve to _die_.

Of course one of the Skull grounders showed up in the middle of the drama. Everything had gone to shit right after Murphy was cut down, but before leaving with Bellamy he had heard a group of people assigned to keep watch on the tree that the grounder was in.

After returning back to the dropship following Murphy's banishment and Charlotte's suicide, Atom had practically fallen face down onto his makeshift bed, instantly falling asleep. When he was woken up by multiple people shouting the next morning, he almost rolled back over to bury his head under the bundled up jacket he'd been using as a pillow. At least until he registered what was being said.

"Everyone, get back to work! We only need a few people to watch the grounder."

Groaning, Atom made himself get up, leaving the comfortable space of his tent to walk over to the area he remembered where Murphy had been hung. When he got close enough to make out what was going on, it wasn't exactly a welcoming scene.

Bellamy, Miller, and Monroe were standing at the base of the tree Atom remembered seeing the Skull grounder climb up. When Bellamy saw him, he immediately waved Atom over.

"We've been trying to get the grounder's attention. We can't let him leave and go back to his people without talking first."

However, when Atom looked up, he was able to make out the grounder much more clearly in the light of day than he had the night before. Taking a deep breath, he decided to shout out and act on his hunch, figuring nothing bad could come out of being wrong.

"Arachne?"

All of the other delinquents seemed surprised when the figure immediately shifted, pulling themselves onto a different branch that gave them a direct line of sight to each other. Peering down, Atom was relieved when he immediately recognized the voice that said in a questioning voice, "Atom?"

Struggling to remember their previous conversation, Atom tentatively said back, "Ita."

She seemed to take that as a positive, and Arachne immediately began climbing down, at times with the use of a grappling hook, until she sat on a branch only fifteen feet in the air. Pulling off her skull mask and placing it in her lap, she looked wary but curious when they made eye contact.

Bellamy's shoulder bumping into his harshly grabbed his attention, and when he turned to look at the older man Atom answered the unspoken question.

"This is the woman I told you about. The one who helped me."

Looking back up, he quickly spoke while he still had her attention and she seemed to be trusting him, "We won't hurt you. Can you come down?"

Atom knew that Arachne didn't understand all of what he'd said, but she looked distinctly amused, most likely at his expense, before she replied in an equally inviting tone, "Atom up."

Before he or any of the other delinquents could question what she meant, Arachne detached her harness and tossed the cable around a branch just above her, locking it into a pulley system. After tugging on it and seeming satisfied, she suddenly dropped the harness down, allowing it to dangle only a few feet in front of Atom's line of sight.

"Atom _up_. I non _down_."

Atom helplessly looked at Bellamy, having no idea what to do. The older man was squinting at the harness hanging in front of them. After a moment he finally turned to Atom and quietly said, "You said she saved you. If you trust her, go up. We need to talk to her."

Grabbing onto the harness wasn't all that difficult, and evidently the pulley system Arachne had set up allowed her to belay him until he found himself precariously sitting just a few feet away from her. Arachne looked startlingly nonchalant, and Atom realized it was likely because he was in the trees, the space she felt most comfortable in and that she must know the delinquents wouldn't at all be familiar with.

"Why – "

"Girl kill tuus frater. Sorry."

Arachne looked sympathetic and patted his hand gently. Atom had no idea how to respond when he didn't really know why she was for some reason pitying him. Did it have to do with Charlotte dying? Atom glanced down and saw that Bellamy was watching the two of them closely, although Miller and Monroe had left. When his leader tilted his head in a sign to keep talking, Atom decided to simply continue their conversation for now while she felt like talking.

"What's a _frater_?"

Arachne shrugged and turned to stare forward as she was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing what to say before she slowly responded, "Girl kill family."

"Oh. No, Wells wasn't my brother."

She sharply turned back to him, her body language a little angry when she said, "All brothers and sorores on terra."

Atom… shit, he wasn't qualified for this. He wasn't a 'people person' in the first place, and talking with someone who spoke what was basically broken English and had really different views than he did wasn't in any way his forte.

"The girl, Charlotte, she died."

To his surprise – seeing as Arachne had stepped in and saved people before when she didn't have to – callously responded, "Charlotte kill Wells."

Bellamy apparently decided to step in when he heard that, his voice enraged when he spat out, "Charlotte was a kid. She didn't deserve to die because of Murphy."

When Arachne raised her eyebrows, Atom thought Bellamy would actually try to kill her. However, she didn't respond, so Atom said, "She should be alive."

She seemed to get equally angry at his words and glared down at Bellamy when she responded, "Wells deserve to die?"

Bellamy's face went blank for a moment, and a moment later he said warily, "You're the one who painted Wells's face."

Arachne let out a sigh and closed her eyes, relaxing before she replied in a wistful tone, "Wells requiesce in pace. Charlotte est child et murderer - non innocens."

Atom… well, Atom couldn't exactly argue with that.


End file.
